Medicines for Humanity of Rockland continues mission in Haiti

Seth Jacobson

Tuesday

Jan 26, 2010 at 12:01 AMJan 26, 2010 at 8:18 AM

The situation in Haiti has gone from a search and rescue mission to one of “rescue and recovery,” according to Danielle Gagnon, the assistant development director for the Medicines For Humanity non-profit group based in Rockland.

The situation in Haiti has gone from a search and rescue mission to one of “rescue and recovery,” according to Danielle Gagnon, the assistant development director for the Medicines For Humanity non-profit group based in Rockland.

The group’s founder, Tim Bilodeau, said when the 6.0 aftershock occurred in Haiti on Jan. 20 after the initial 7.1 earthquake on Jan. 12, a terrible situation got worse.

“The thing about the second earthquake is that it really affected people in a psychological way, rather than in a physical way,” Bilodeau said. “Frankly, after the first earthquake (on Jan. 12), there wasn’t much more damage to be done.”

Medicines For Humanity Development Director Dick Weisberg said to deal with situations like the one in Haiti, it takes money. And Medicines For Humanity raises money in a number of ways.

“We’ve got a very committed donor base,” he said, adding the group also raises funds through grants, an annual fundraising dinner, an annual appeal and a golf tournament.

Bilodeau said all of the group’s medicines are purchased through European suppliers at a discount.

“If someone donates $100 to us, we can essentially turn that into $2,000 worth of medicines,” Bilodeau said.

He added any donation is welcome, as it can go a long way.

The mission statement for Medicines For Humanity is that the group “is dedicated to saving children’s lives in impoverished communities worldwide. We help local healthcare partners to implement effective health initiatives for children and to become self-sustaining organizations.”

Bilodeau said his group has three of these “health care partners” in Haiti. First, the Daughters of Charity — who are nuns — help children in Cite Soleil, a very impoverished, crime-ridden section of Port-au-Prince. Second, Medicines For Humanity manages the St. Joseph maternal health clinic for the women and children in the section of Port-au-Prince known as Christ Roi. Third, Bilodeau said, “We also collaborate with Madame Paula Thybulle at Foyer des Filles de Dieu and the Notre Dame clinic to provide needed primary care for children and pregnant women.”

Bilodeau said two of the partner facilities — the Notre Dame clinic and the St. Joseph facility — collapsed after the first earthquake.

As of last week, many of the roads in Haiti were impassible. So Bilodeau and Weisberg said they were planning on linking up with other non-profit groups they knew of in neighboring Dominican Republic to see if medicines could be brought in from that country.

“We were able to get supplies in that way,” Bilodeau said of that initiative, noting Medicines For Humanity has also been working with another non-profit group stationed in Haiti called the International Medical Corps to get additional medicines into the country.

Bilodeau added his group has been supplying a medical team stationed in Christ Roi with medicines and other supplies.

“The doctors there are seeing more than 300 patients per day,” Bilodeau said.

He added the Daughters of Charity in Cite Soleil have probably seen more than 300 patients per day, as conditions in that part of Haiti are rapidly deteriorating.

“We are making some progress,” Bilodeau said. “But the crews in Haiti are working in a very difficult situation so there’s only so much progress to be made right now.”

He added his group’s partners are desperately trying to find places for people to live, as conditions in the whole country have forced people to live in the streets, creating dangerous sanitation conditions.

“That’s our biggest concern right now — the conditions,” Bilodeau said. “People are living out in the open in tents, crammed together. There’s very little clean water and sanitation.”

He stressed people in Haiti are constantly dying from very treatable ailments like dehydration and diarrhea, noting, “In Haiti, one out of every 10 children do not reach their fifth birthday” because of these sicknesses.

“Life continues to be extremely difficult in Haiti and I don’t see it getting much easier anytime soon,” Bilodeau said.

Although the Rockland office of Medicines For Humanity is mainly staffed by Bilodeau, Weisberg and Gagnon, there are others who help.

Duxbury resident Tom O’Neill serves as the chairman for the annual dinner.

Hingham native Micah Weisberg, a TV producer in New York, has been credited with raising thousands of dollars for the group.

Ronit Enos, the proprietor of Maxime Salon in Hingham, is a corporate sponsor for the group and Hingham resident Sheila Collins serves as the group’s development researcher.

Bilodeau’s philosophy is that every one person can make a difference, stressing that principle is one of the main aspect’s of Medicines For Humanity.

The public can Medicines For Humanity cope with the Haiti situation in three ways. You can make a donation at www.medicinesforhumanity.org. You can also call (781) 982-0274 to make a donation. Finally, you can mail a donation in the form of a check to Medicines For Humanity, 800 Hingham St. Rockland, MA, 02370.

For more information, call Assistant Development Director Gagnon at (781) 982-0274.

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